Hello hello! Sorry I took so long, had to do researching on giving birth cause I don't know much about it. I hope it's accurately depicted! Enjoy!

Chapter 28

Mikan twirled the ring which Natsume had given her 2 nights before on her table. She turned her head to look at the large calendar which was counting down to the number of days before she delivered. The looming day of pain was only a day away and she slumped back down on her desk and stared at the crimson stone. Mikan was feeling lonely, upset, sadness and then anger. At first she thought these feelings were caused and enhanced by her pregnancy, but slowly she realized that these feelings were her own.

The next morning, after Natsume ahd given Mikan the ring, she was awoken by trumpets flaring. Annoyed that she had to be woken up so early in the morning, she pulled on her night coat and slipped on her satin slippers. Walking to her balcony, she saw all the servants of the palace running around, assembling at the courtyard.

A maid saw her staring and quickly curtsied, others who saw her followed suit, it was then Mikan wished she never asked that question.

"What's the commotion so early in the morning?"

"Morning, milady. It's Hyuuga-sama, the young prince. He's been assigned a mission by his parents, to find and bring back a vigilante which has been stopping these thugs in the kingdom. We were told to gather in the courtyard to see his highness off."

"How do you know this?"

"It's been spreading like wildfire milady, my family in the countryside has also mentioned this lone vigilante." The maid curtsied once more and ran to the courtyard.

"He's leaving now? A few days before Luna and I are due? He has to put and end to the chaos caused by Kuonji. Can't that wait? Don't be silly, you know a ruling family is only as powerful as the people they look after. But but… NO BUTS, as Shadowfox, you should understand the pain your people would be feeling." Having an internal mind fight with her conscious was not something she enjoyed, but as much as she did not like to admit, her conscious was right. This was Natsume's duty and she had to support him. She could not burden him and make him feel guilty, instead she should smile and wish him all the best.

"You shouldn't see him. And why not? Because seeing him leave would make it more painful for you. Just sit in your room." Once again, her conscious was right.

Natsume sat on his horse and stared out into the plains that stretched on endlessly. Beside him rode Ruka on the left and Shiki on the right. He did not care about how the scenery looked or the fact that he was leading 20 other men, he was enraged by the fact that his parents had forced him out on this mission.

"They're both due in 3 days time! I can't be missing then!" Natsume hissed at his mother.

"You're missing the point. Someone is HELPING us here, this is a good chance for us to gather our forces." Kaoru-sama tried to coax her son.

"Yeah, he, or she, is helping the people, I get it. It's good for you and me and the people, but I've been reading about childbirth, mothers do get post delivery depression, especially so if they're delivering the baby alone."

"You're being dramatic Natsume. This mission will not take you more than 2 days. You will be back in time for both their deliveries."

"What if I'm not? What if one of them delivers first? Aren't you being unfair to that person then in this test?" Natsume was trying very hard to keep his anger in check.

"Natsume, stop being rude to your mother. We would have sent someone else if it were possible, but after the incident with Reo, we are finding it a hard time to trust anyone." His father had finally spoken. Known to be a meek and quiet man, Natsume knew his father only spoke when necessary.

Letting out a loud sigh, Natsume ran his hand through his raven hair. "All right. I'll go."

"Good. We're sending Ruka and Shiki with you, along with 20 other men, for protection."

"Where is the place where this man was rumored to be at?"

"He lives at the base of the mountain on the south of this kingdom."

"THAT MOUNTAIN? That's where the mountain cats live at, and it'll take us one full day of riding non-stop to reach there. Why there?"

"We do not question the information we are given son, but it is certain that he lives there for the villages within a 1km radius have never been attacked by these thugs sent by Kuonji."

Grunting in frustration, Natsume paced around the room. "When am I leaving?"

"The first thing tomorrow morning."

"You had better ensure the 20 men aren't sloppy, whinny and slow or I'll be the one killing them." With that, Natsume grabbed his sword which he had placed on the marble table and trudged up to his room for a good night's sleep.

"Great, this destroyed the night that was perfect with Polka. I'm sorry for not telling you polka, I hope you'd forgive me." He thought.

The party had been riding for almost three quarters of the day and the sun was setting. Words that passed between the three men were sparse and short. Both Shiki and Ruka understood Natsume's anxiety to be near Mikan when she entered child labour and tried to urge their horses to take on a faster pace.

"We are nearing the mountain, another 10 kilometers." Shiki broke the silence.

Natsume grunted, he then dug his heels into his horse's side and the horse broke out into a faster gallop. Galloping ahead, he knew that it was risking them to surprise attacks but the anxiety he had between Kunoji attacking and anything happening to Mikan was raging in his blood.

Being the first one at the base of the mountain, he dismounted his horse and led it to the nearby stream, patting it for running as fast as he wanted it to and rewarding it with a few berries he carried with him. Tying the reigns round the tree, Natsume secured his sword on his belt, checked that his dagger was in place, then left to find the man who he was supposed to find.

These parts of the kingdom were rarely visited by anyone for the fact that at night, the temperatures would drop over 10 degrees as the clouds would lower, chilling the air. The only people who lived here were those who needed a quick access to the large river for fishing and trading. Miners also stayed in the villages around as the mountain contained many precious stones and metals. Known to them, this place had its risk. They were prone to attacks by the large mountain cats that make homes in the mountain. Often, upon smelling the smell of cooked meat, the mountain cats would arrive in packs at villages and attack people. Their instinct to hunt was eroded by the offering of food these people gave to the cats.

Natsume rubbed his hands against his arms for warmth as he felt the temperature dropping. He had to find this man fast, or his company would freeze tonight. He knew that they had underestimated the cold by the amount of clothes they had brought with them. Wanting to catch the man by surprise, Natsume entered into stealth mode and adjusted his eyes to the darkness. In a distance, he could see a fire being lit and he knew that there would be his target, for no one stayed this near to the mountains. Carefully making his way to his target, he was interrupted by a large mental call.

"NATSUME! Where the heck are you?"

"SHUT IT! YOU JUST BROKE MY CONCENTRATION! WHO'S THIS?"

"I'm hurt that you can't recognize me. It's Koko you idiot! Ruka and Shiki-san and the rest of the men have reached and we found your horse. Where are you man? We're worried."

"Firstly, tell them I'm all right, I've found our target. He's about three hundred meters from my horse and another hundred from me. Tell them to circle the camp, here, I'll picture the place for you." Natsume shut his eyes and tried to send a mental picture. "Got it?"

"Yeah, I know this place, I'll take some men and trap him from the west. You're coming towards him from the east. I'll get some other men to follow Ruka and they'll take the North. Shiki will be coming with some men as well and they'll be behind you. The guy's gonna be trapped between us and the mountain."

"Great. Secondly, why the heck are you here?"

"I heard the commotion in the morning and decided to join the party. Sumire's gonna kill me when she gets back…"

"So she got you wrapped round her finger aye? All right, enough of this and let's move out. I see movement. He's not alone."

Natsume saw a shadow cast against the walls of the mountain. The man he was supposed to bring back was around 20 years old, had blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. From the shadows, he could see a man standing and staring at something. Being too far away, Natsume crawled closer and climbed up a tree nearby. Not wanting to expose himself, he channeled his alice to the flames that were burning, and made most of them extinguish, leaving only a small flame.

The person he was watching was mystified by what was happening, but did not bother to indulge in it. In fact, he was staring face to face with a mountain cat. The man backed up as much as he could, but realized that he had nowhere to run, the mountain cat could anticipate his movements and snarled every time he tried to run.

"Please… please don't do this…" The man whimpered.

"Talking to a mountain cat is useless, it doesn't understand human." Natsume thought. Wanting to see if this was the man he should be bringing back alice, Natsume made the flames suddenly burst out. The burst of light would be so sudden that no one would know where he was, but would give him enough time to look at the man's face.

As planned, the flames roared to life and this scared the mountain cat for a while. Natsume saw all that he needed to see. The man begging for his life was not the man he was told to bring back. This man had red hair and green eyes, most of all, he was in his late sixties.

"Please… I have a family at home." The man pleaded again.

"Enough old man…" An eerie voice was heard. Natsume froze up and searched frantically for the voice. As if the God's were hearing his pleas, the eerie voice was heard again. "I need the blood of this animal, and you're going to be bait for it. Thank you for your services." As soon as the voice had stopped, the mountain cat lunged itself at the man's throat, killing him instantly. Happy with its kill, the mountain cat started devouring its prey, then with a "swoosh", the mountain cat dropped dead, its head rolling towards the fire.

The entire scene made Natsume almost puke in disgust, the headless cat's body collapsed to the ground with a thud and its limbs were still twitching. Forcing himself to continue looking at the scene, Natsume saw a small boy walk towards the cat's body and from his coat, removed a vial. He bent down and collected the animal's blood before capping it and chuckling at the two dead bodies.

"Kuonji…"

Just in time, Koko had sent him a telepathic message. "Natsume, we're in position. We just saw the entire scene… is that who we think it is?"

"Yeah, it's Kuonji. Hotaru did warn me about this."

"Should we attack him? It could be our only chance."

"I'll go. Send 5 men out to corner him now."

As instructed, 5 men stepped out with their swords drawn, all facing Kuonji. Natsume landed with a thud behind these men and he stepped forward.

"Well well… look who's here to play? The little prince who's so far away from home."

"Why are you doing all this Kuonji?" Natsume spat.

"Since you're here, I'll let you in on a little secret. You see, your family kicked me off the throne when I was 10 years old. Unknown to them, I was trained well by assassins and well, I'm going to pick you all off, one by one." The small boy gave a sick little smile.

"Enough talk, you've done enough damage."

"Enough damage? Looks who's talking. You're the one doing all this damage. IF you didn't go riding in and saving that little wrench, I would not have to resort to this. All this damage is not equivalent to the pain and humiliation I felt when your parents casted me out of the palace. I was only 10!"

Kuonji slid the vial of blood into his coat and with one quick movement, he killed 2 guards with flying daggers. The men did not know what hit them and dropped dead, with their blood pooling on the ground. Using the commotion, Kuonji rushed up and sliced the other 3 guards with ease.

"Natsume, I'm going to send more men."

"NO! Avoid any more bloodshed. I'll deal with him."

Natsume unsheathed his sword and stood facing Kuonji. The 10 year old boy merely smirked at him and within seconds, a black smoke was being emitted from his body. Noting the effect the black smoke had, he realized that whatever it touched, integrated before him. The smoke had reached the tip of Natsume's sword and it was beginning to rust and crumble.

"Good bye Natsume. I'm sure your parents and Mikan would be devastated. But don't worry, with both your kingdom and Nula, I'm going to rule the rest of this world." The smoke began to envelope Natsume and he bent down to protect his body against the smoke, but instead of feeling his skin rotting and crumbling, he realized that he was still intact.

"Huh?"

"Shiki told me to tell you that he has placed a barrier around you."

"Thank god for Shiki."

However, the smoke suddenly disappeared and Natsume's vision cleared as he saw a young man in his twenties attack Kuonji. He had successfully managed to drive a dagger into Kuonji's shoulder and Kuonji was now screaming in pain.

Natsume quickly threw down his rusted sword and unsheathed his dagger, while getting ready to throw, the man in his twenties shook his head and nodded towards the fire. As if by telepathy, Natsume immediately understood what the man had wanted from him. Using his alice, Natsume summoned 5 fireballs and they were targeted at Kuonji. Each fireball burned Kuonji and the last one branded him a traitor with his kingdom's insignia. That meant that he was now a property of his kingdom and could be arrested.

"CURSE ALL OF YOU! THIS IS NOT THE LAST YOU HAVE SEEN OF ME!" Screeching, Kuonji enveloped himself in the black smoke and disappeared as both Natsume and the young man rushed towards him.

The young man stopped in mid-air and sheathed his curved blade upon seeing that Natsume was the only one standing opposite him. Giving Natsume a small bow, he diverted his attention to the headless mountain cat. Taking out a small piece of meat from the pouch that hung by his side, the young man started "tsk tsk tsk" with his mouth. Natsume stared curiously at this young man and the other men started to come out from their hiding position.

"Don't call your men out Hyuuga-san. Just watch and see." The young man instructed.

Within a few minutes, a few baby cubs walked out from the forest from Ruka's direction. The little furry animals rubbed their bodies on the men's legs and they jumped back in shock. Some raised their weapons and wanted to shoo them away.

"Stay your weapons!" Ruka commanded. Having the alice that allows him to communicate with animals, Ruka could sense that these cubs were hungry and were looking for their mother. Feeling sorry for them, he made the men make a way for them and led them to the young man, holding the meat. Approaching wearily towards the young man, the cubs slowly nibbled the meat from his hand, and once sensing that all was safe, the snatched it greedily and began to tear up the piece of meat amongst themselves.

"I trust that you have the alice that allows you to communicate with others." The young man spoke to Ruka.

"How do you know this? I did not say anything to these animals." Ruka asked curiously.

"I also believe that Hyuuga-san here has the alice of fire, and your companion there has a main barrier alice, but he also wields many other alices."

Natsume being entraced by the innocence of these animals snapped out of it as he heard the young man pick out the alices of each man in his company.

"Yukihira sensei?" Shiki finally spoke as he made his way out of the forest.

"Ah… a name which I have not been called for a long time." The young man sighed.

"Who are you exactly?" Natsume demanaded.

"My apologies. I am Yukihira Kazumi. To keep a long story short, I believe my niece is the final two contestant in your test."

"Your niece?" Ruka and Natsume blurted out loud. Shiki merely stood his ground and gave a wide smile.

"Yes my niece. My younger brother was Yukihira Izumi, the man who married Yuka-san, Mikan's mother. So in technical terms, she's my niece."

"Wait wait wait, your YOUNGER brother. That means you must be close to 40 years old!"

"Ah… another statement I often hear. Why yes, I'm close to 40. I'm sure the next question you're going to ask me is how do I still look like a twenty year old. My alice, the alice of longevity allows me to retain my youthful look. My other alice, the alice of detection, allowed me to identify each alice that you all have. Hence, when I was scouting the place, looking for a herb, I saw the young man you called Kuonji coming into the forest. He had this black aura around him, but that is not his real alice. It seems that it was an alice stone given to him, the alice of death. He used this alice to control the mother mountain cat to attack this man." Yukihira-san pointed to the man on the ground.

"What is his real alice then?" Shiki made his way over to the trio and joined into the conversation.

"The clone alice. He is able to make multiple copies of himself and place them in significant positions in various kingdoms. But luckily, Yuka found out before he could have commenced his plan and forcefully stopping his time and alice, preventing him from carrying it out. But this has made him even more frustrated, he has become more desperate for Mikan who has inherited her mother's alice."

"We know that. He's been trying various ways to hurt and capture her. But each time he fails because we are by her side." Ruka exclaimed confidently.

"But now you are not. She is going to be in danger. I can feel it. Let's go back to your palace Hyuuga-san."

"One more thing, why haven't you gone back to Nula, to reclaim the throne? Or to find Mikan?" Natsume questioned.

"I can't. I forfeited the throne when I found out about my alice. No one wants to have a ruler who never dies. There will be too much chaos in the kingdom. I abdicated and passed it on to my brother, who was the wed the daughter of the royal family of Nula. About Mikan, I kept her safe when I could. Following her on missions and aiding her when she least expected it. She wouldn't have realized because I hid myself well. I never abandoned her, I just never made myself known to her." Yukihira-san paused for a while, then suddenly spoke with an urgent tone.

"She's in immense pain. I think she's in labour."

Mikan was walking in the garden, reminding herself that her due date is tomorrow. She looked at the roses and began picking out a few for the vase that was on the dinner table.

"Perhaps they would make a good center piece."

Suddenly Mikan felt a gush of water in between her legs and immediately after, a strong intense pain in between her legs. She dropped all the roses that she had in her hand and crouched down to cradle her stomach.

"MISAKI! TSUBASA!" Mikan cried out as another wave of pain hit her.

"It's too early! The baby is due tomorrow not today!"

Misaki and Tsubasa who were nearby rushed to her side immediately and assessed the situation.

"Her water bag broke. She's going to deliver the baby soon. Tsubasa, carry her to her room. I'll go call Hotaru and the senseis." Activating her alice, Misaki split herself into 4 people and each of them rushed to a different place. Tsubasa supported Mikan's back and placed an arm under her legs, lifting her slowly, he walked briskly back into her room.

"Mikan… tell me when the contractions are much closer together." Tsubasa instructed.

Mikan felt the pain subside and she took in a deep breath of air. The walk from the garden to her room was 10 minutes, but in that time, Mikan experienced another 2 waves of pain. Each time the pain got stronger and stronger and she dug her nails into her palm to prevent herself from screaming out.

When Tsubasa reached the room, Hotaru, Sumire and company were standing outside. Urging them to put her on a bed with wheels, Hotaru wheeled her to an operating theatre a few rooms down, in case of any complications. Once the doors to the operating table were open, they were met with Subaru Imai.

"I'm sorry, I can't let all of you in. Only 3 of you may enter." Subaru instructed. His assistants pushed the bed that Mikan was on into an inner room and the doors swung shut, obscuring their view of her.

"Only the females go. If Mikaa saw either of you," Hotaru indicated to the teachers, "She would freak out. If Natsume was here, he could have permy's place, but he's not, so permy, you're in there for support."

Seeing that no one was objecting her decision, Hotaru dragged the shocked Misaki-senpai and Sumire to the wash up area so they could be sterilized. Being the last one to enter the room, Misaki-sensei passed Hotaru a vial of clear liquid.

"It's the distillation of a concoction I had been creating. It should help to lessen the pain she feels. Make sure she drinks at least half the bottle." Misaki-sensei told Hotaru and gave her a pat on the shoulder. Tying on her surgical mask, Hotaru entered the theatre. A large red neon sign saying "Deliver In Progress" was switched on and the men, started to pace nervously outside.

Mikan's dress was removed and replaced by a surgical gown. Her legs were propped up and they were getting ready for her. The contraction time lessen to about one per every 2 minutes and Subaru nodded to his team to get ready.

"Take in deep and consistent breaths Mika." Sumire said soothingly.

The pain was too much for her, she was feeling dizzy and irritated. "Easy for you to say… you're not the one giving birth to a baby."

Another wave of pain hit her and she clenched onto Misaki-senpai's hand, sqeezing them as if the bones were non-existant.

"When that Natsume gets back, I'm going to skin him alive to make sure he feels the same pain that I'm feeling. This is injustice." Another pain hit her.

"Push Mika, push with all your might! I see your baby's head." Subaru shouted over the screams of pain.

"Damn that bastard. Why did he have to leave now! I hate him! Look what he did to me!" Mikan screamed and pushed at the same time.

"Technically he didn't do anything to you, he didn't even bed you." Hotaru coldly exclaimed.

"Yeah well, this sucks like hell. It's the worst kind of pain any human should be feelings."

"At least you get to see what an imaginary child with him looks like." Sumire tried to brighten the mood.

However Mikan darkly commented, or screamed in this case, "WOULD YOU LIKE TO SWITCH PLACES WITH ME PERMY? I'M SURE YOU'D ENJOY AND LAVISH THIS PAIN I'M FEELING!" Mikan emphasized on the two words.

"THAT'S IT MIKA. KEEP GOING! THE BABY'S HEAD IS OUT. ANOTHER TWO MORE STRONG PUSH!" Subaru continued screaming. Everyone was screaming in the room. The nurses were screaming to each other so that they could prepare the clamp for the umbilical cord and the clean cloth for the baby. Sumire and Hotaru were screaming to each other, hurling insults. Misaki was screaming at the duo to keep quiet and Mikan was screaming at an imaginary Natsume.

"YOU DESERVE TO GO TO THE DEEPEST LEVELS OF HELL AND ROT THERE! WHY ON EARTH WOULD I HAVE AGREED TO TAKE THIS TEST IF YOU WEREN'T GOING TO BE HERE!"

"ALL RIGHT EVERYONE SHUT IT!" Subaru suddenly shouted and the whole room remained quiet. Then, a baby's cry was heard and everyone burst into tears. "Sheesh, in your midst of shouting, Mika delivered the baby. It's healthy and it's a girl."

Mikan dried her tears and opened her arms to carry her new born baby. The baby immediately stopped crying and looked up to her mother. Like her father, she had his piercing red eyes and his black hair. But like Mikan, she had her smile and her nose. Brushing away the loose black strands of hair, Mikan saw that her child had a birth mark on the top of her forehead.

Hotaru, Sumire and Misaki crowded round her and began cooing at the baby.

"So, what are you going to name it?" Hotaru asked.

"Keiko. Keiko Nyoko Hyuuga." Mikan proudly stated. Mikan was happy with the name, for this child would be her adored treasure. This child would be her life, even if it weren't real. To her, the next few days would be as real as anything she ever imagined.

Misaki was using a dry cloth to wipe away the sweat on Mikan's head while Sumire and Hotaru were busy fretting over the baby and Mikan when the doors to the theatre swung open and in trode Narumi, Misaki-sensei, Shiki-san, Ruka and Natsume. Unknown to them, Mikan still had her legs propped up and it was facing the door. Suddenly a cold air blew in and Mikan realized that her privates were exposed to the 5 males who were now standing at the door.

She grabbed her baby tight and screamed with all the air in her lungs, "GET OUT YOU PERVERTS!"

Ruka, Shiki and Misaki-sensei turned away with beet red faces, but Narumi ignored her shouts and bounded up to Mikan to give her a peck on the forehead. "I'm so proud of you. Come now girls, let's leave papa Hyuuga to to-be mama Hyuuga." Pushing the reluctant party of girls out, Subaru quickly lowered Mikan's legs and placed a clean towel around her.

"Give her 10 minutes Hyuuga-sama, we'll clean her up. You can wait in the adjoining room." Subara pointed to the room on the left of the theatre. Walking stiffly in, Natsume made his way to the room and sat down in the chair. The image of Mikan with her red face and sweaty hair burned into his brain. He never expected to come face to face with her in that position till they were wedded. He let his heavy head rest in his hands and mentally chided himself.

"Stupid stupid! I shouldn't have barged in and look at her. I should have waited. ARGH! I'm such a prick! I'm useless! I wasn't even there when she needed me the most!"

In his mental monologue, he did not hear Mikan being wheeled in on her bed and the nurse fix up the various medical equipment for observation. Even when she left, Natsume was still belittling himself and scream at his conscious. Mikan found this scene all too funny as many expressions came and went by on Natsume's face.

Hearing someone laughing, Natsume looked up and saw a clean Mikan in a new surgical robe. He immediately got up from his seat and walked to her.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for you." Natsume held her hand and gave her a long kiss on her forehead. "I'm so proud of you."

"It was all right. It could have been better with you, since we would experience it together but no worries, you'll get to see it again the next time." Mikan smiled.

"Next time, I'm assuming you are definitely going to win this competition?"

"Yup. The baby sparked something in me, and I'm not going to let Luna win at any chance." Mikan remarked with a determined look on her face. "How's the mission? Did you bring the man back?" Mikan moved over on her bed to allow Natsume to lie beside her, but any form of movement caused her to wince in pain.

"Stop moving around, I'll just grab a chair and sit beside you." Natsume let go of her hand and pulled the chair he was sitting on earlier, beside her bed. "The mission was fine. We got the guy. But he wasn't what we expected him to be."

"Who's he?"

"Someone. Let's not talk about the mission. I rushed back personally for you. Where's the baby?" Natsume looked around, as if wondering if the nurses had hid the baby.

"Subaru said he wanted to do a quick check up on the baby then get it cleaned up. She'll be here soon."

"She? It's a girl?"

"Don't be all surprised. It's a girl. With you hair and eyes, and my nose and mouth. I'm sure she'll have a personality like mine."

Natsume tried picturing the baby girl but was failing miserably, wanting to wait for the baby to arrive instead, he asked Mikan, "What's her name?"

"Keiko Nyoko Hyuuga."

"The names we both picked? Why didn't you pick one?"

"I couldn't they were both so nice. Besides, this child is special and she deserves a special name."

As soon as Mikan finished her sentence, the baby was wheeled into the room in a little clear cradle. The nurse curtsied and started giving a report on the baby, how she was healthy and was of a normal baby size. Anna then burst into the room behind the nurse and cut her short of her report.

"I'm soooooooo sorry Mikan! This wasn't what I expected. You were due tomorrow not today! I guess the baby did want to come out as soon as possible. Well… what a sight to behold, she looks like papa Hyuuga with that fierce look. But she has mama's smile."

"Erm Anna… if you're done, Mika would like to rest. She has had a drilling 2 hour delivery." Natsume interrupted the girl's insistent chatter.

"Oh oh, my bad! Rest well Mika dear, I'll be checking back tomorrow with your doctor. Ohhh this is just great news! More evidence for my research!" And she bounded out of the room as fast as she came in. Natsume and Mikan both sweat dropped when Anna passed that last comment. Apprently, both were not too happy that Mikan was used as a test subject.

Breaking away from that thought, Natsume turned to look at his daughter. Indeed she had his piercing crimson eyes and had wonderful lushes raven locks. Even though she had his looks, he could feel that her personality would be exactly like her mother's. Carefully cradling the baby in his hands, he carried her and brought her to her mother. Placing the baby on the bed in between them, Natsume rested his forehead against Mikan's and held the baby's delicate hand.

They rested in this position till all 3 of them fell asleep.

Yay! Done done. I hope the pain that Mikan felt and the order of sequences was correct. Now you all know more about Kuonji's plan and there's a new member to the family, Little Keiko Nyoko Hyuuga! Sorry to those who wanted a boy, there will be a boy, but not yet. :) keep reading and you'll find out more. I write to please my readers.

Just to clarify, I didn't miss out the N in Mikan's name. It's just to be consistent with the story, she hasn't revealed herself to many people, so most would know her as Mika. Those close to her would also know not to call her Mikan in public. So yeah, hopefully that clears things up.

Now for the replies!

RandomDalmatian326: I couldn't fit those couple pairings in this chapter. I'll try to in the following chapters, but more towards the end as the story is going to take another dark turn. The parts that I have for the pairings will be more of a comical relief. :) Keep reading! Hopefully this chap has less grammer mistakes.

Blueberryxn: I love you loads seriously! You're always the first to respond!

Enigmasonatarocks568: You know, your comments really inspire me? Thanks a whole lot. I hope this chapter met your expectation!

animelover314ever: Glad to hear that you would read it over again! I've always wanted to write a fanfic but could never get a good plot. Thankfully I've always had great supporters like you! :) To answer your question, I'm from Singapore. :D

Stephy 73: why ahh? hahaha! Was it bad? I'd love to hear from you! :)